Batgirl (2024-) #8

Batgirl (2024) #8

by Tate Brombal, Isaac Goodhart (Artist)

Sandra and Carolyn Wu-San have taken to the streets of Detroit and become thechampions of Chinatown—but what happens when they meet the deadly fists ofRichard Dragon and the Bronze Tiger? Meanwhile, who is the dark shadow thatstalks the young Lady Shiva by day and haunts her dreams by night, and how do itsrevelations affect Cassandra Cain in the present?Get ready for the deadliest, most action-packed issue of Batgirl yet!

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Comic Book

Kindle Edition

Published June 4, 2025

Reviews

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good ongoing series.

[Jadyn❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wondering how Cass could possibly have come about after what I’ve read here. Establishing that Lady Shiva was heroic once helps to support the earlier reveal that there are people living in Gotham devoted to her and her cause, but Brombal chooses not to characterize Sandra in such a way that her later “villainy” feels like a complete personality overhaul. This portion of the backstory worked better than I expected it to.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shiva's backstory isn't my favorite but that ending was shocking and terrible...which I will admit got me invested again.

[Cybernex007 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series and this storyline continues to impress me to no end. In the first story arc Shiva mentioned that her heart and any softness she had now belongs to Cass. If that is the case then this storyline is Shiva’s final heartbeats as she opens herself up completely to Cass, and it’s phenomenally beautiful. As we left Shiva and her sister last issue, they are on the run from their uncle, the leader of the blood, who just burned their village and was responsible for their parents death. Now we see a quick montage as they spend the next years of their lives in secret traveling around the globe learning from the best. Until they finally arrived in Detroit, USA. There they dawned new names as Sandra (Shiva/Mei-Xing) and Carolyn (Ming-Yue), and became a tracking show making a living beating up tourists for money. Until one day they came across two very special tourists in their ring…Ben Turner (Bronze Tiger) and Richard Drakunovski (DICK DRAGON)! Four martial arts legends of the dc universe in one ring…and of course Shiva and her sister worked in perfect unity to take down the two. But unlike Shiva at this time, who has begun to grow colder and distant as her mind continues to stay focused on their mission to take down their uncle, her sister remains full of compassion and love. She took a heart to the two men and invited them out for drinks. It was then that Shiva recollects noticing the gap between them. Her sister is tired of the constant fighting and would rather work to protect people with their skills, while Shiva admits that she was forged as a blade and being a shield is not natural for her.

But soon the quest to avenge their parents was put on the back burner as their adventuring as a heroic quartet began. The group shared meals and fought alongside each other tearing each other to their limits…and within it love blossomed as Ben and Ming-Yue grew closer. It seems like Richard has some feeling for Shiva, but that was never something she was interested in.

But no matter how fast they ran or how many weird foes they came across…Shiva could not escape the shadow that followed her. Her dreams are haunted by an inevitable god of destruction that stands over Shiva’s dead sister. And the day finally came that she met that shadow. All the way back since Detroit she noticed that shadow and kept it a secret, and now she has a name to put to the grey haired face…David Cain. Shiva had so many chances in the alley she met him in on her way home to kill him…and she took none of them, instead she only listened. David explained that he is a planner, and has worked his entire life to develop the perfect killer but has come to the conclusion he has not had the proper stock. So what he wants is her. He sees her resigning herself to her sister’s shadow and wants to “free” her from it and work with her to birth the perfect killer. UGH, what?! This dude really opened with this, what a scumbag no wonder Cass hates him so much. I don’t actually know Cass’s story that far back, but I have an overcoming sense of worry about how Cass was really born is this is her father. But guess what…it gets worse. Shiva rejected David right there and he had to get out of an armlock by shocking her with some tech he was wearing…but he leaves her on a note…he already spoke to her sister. Shiva immediately realizes what this means and rushes back to their home. She pushes past Ben and Richard to her sister’s room…only to find the window open and her sister dead. Her dreams have come true. But no one is filled with more anger about her death than Ben standing right alongside Shiva. He wants a name and he wants blood. At that moment shiva realized that if she “could not defeat fate, then I would become its wrath.” As such the issue ends on one of the last things Shiva told Cass and the reason for writing this book in the first place. She trusts Cass with her life and with the task of its vengeance…which is also why Shiva told Cass right before her death that she must find bronze tiger as he is the only one who can help now. I believe I have started to realize where this storyline is going, and wow what a thrilling issue.

[RubiGiráldez RubiGiráldez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta cabecera sigue asentando la idea de explorar como nunca la peliaguda relación maternofilial entre Lady Shiva y Cass. Aunque justamente esta primera ya no siga con la segunda en cuerpo sí que lo hace mediante las vivencias escritas en un diario que descubren a Batgirl y al lector un pasado algo más positivo para el personaje de la mayor combatiente del Universo DC acompañando a su hermana en un continuo aventureo que no terminará bien en consonancia en recalcar la perturbadora figura paterna de Cassandra.

Creo que esta propuesta se aprovecha de más en que el personaje de esta Batgirl llevaba MUCHO tiempo sin comic propio cuando se ha resignificado en historias corales. Pero espero que Tate Brombal tenga algo más preparado que repetir el nuevo embite con el enésimo clan ninja/marcial estereotipado.

[Annemarie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't like this one as much. Shiva having a more heroic past fits well with what little I know about her as a person (mostly from the superhero girls animation). The reluctant hero trope fits her well. Want find of the two guys. Cain started very interesting but quickly went to very creepy instead. I'm kinda more interested in his past.

Also, Tiger calling him and Richie "kungfu tourist" in a flashback really threw me off, that's a relatively new slang. It confused me. I know it's nitpicky, I know it is, but it completely pulled me out and had me research if maybe it was used longer than I thought. Couldn't find evidence of that though.

[Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don’t get me wrong I really am liking aspects of the Batgirl run it’s just a bit frustrating that it feels like Shiva’s run with Cass guest starring every now and then :/
(Although the ending pages with her sister—yikes)

[Richard A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoying this story about Shiva's origins, so well told and quite interesting.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Derrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. Holy shit that ending was brutal! But can we please start focusing on Cass now?

[Alexis Moreno · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cass is getting mogged in her own book by her mom. this is not what i had expected but im here for it. i want Cass focus but still there.